Blowing off the Cobwebs (02-14-21)

 After being hunkered down for quite a while over the holidays, we had a brilliant idea. Let’s go somewhere (preferably somewhere warm).

Liz and Randy had made a bunch of modifications to their 5th wheel, and we hadn’t towed ours with the new truck yet, so all of a sudden we were all antsy to get outta here and test them out.

Death Valley is only 4 hours from here, and it’s one of my favorite national parks- so I investigated the possibility of exploring and hiking there. The campgrounds are closed, but the hiking trails are open, so the 4 of us booked a spot in a nearby RV Park, and took off.

The weather was too cold to sit outside, so we were happy to find our own personal bar inside the casino at the RV park. It made a great place to hang out, and the drinks were good too.

The first time I came to Death Valley, I was stunned by how beautiful it is. I have been here several times now, and I still feel that sense of awe.

Our first stop was Dante’s View- its a great first view of the park and it never disappoints.

 Following the road, our next stop was Zabriskie Point. Liz and Randy have never been here, so we wanted to make sure we hit all the highlights and this is definitely one of them.

Continuing on, we headed down to the valley floor and Badwater Basin.  At 282 feet below sea level, this is the lowest point in North America- it was named for the taste of the water- apparently it isn’t “good”. Since the white stuff we are standing on is salt, I guess I can see why.

Speaking of white stuff- Death Valley only gets 2 inches of rain a year, spread out over about 20 days.  And yet it has rained every time I have been here.  None of my family would be surprised.  Bad weather tends to follow me but this time, mother nature outdid herself.

The following day as we drove through the park we started seeing white stuff falling from the sky. Not in the mountains- but just above the valley floor.

 Of course it “never” snows in Death Valley, so it was a real treat to be there for it. We stopped several times to enjoy and and get some pictures.

The following day the snow was gone from the valley floor, but there was still plenty on the nearby mountains.

We all wanted to get some hiking in, so on our final day we headed to Mosaic Canyon. 

Paul and I have hiked this several times, but I forgot how much bouldering there is. 

Randy and Liz were good sports though, and we made it in about 1.5 miles before turning around.

By lunch time the weather had warmed up enough for a picnic.

From Death Valley, we moved along to Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. 

It’s easy to see where it gets its name. 

We spent a few days exploring this park- but the weather was still pretty chilly, so we didn’t do much sitting outside.

From bright red to pastels, to white, this park has rocks of all colors.

I love hiking on rock- its particularly fun for me-I am not sure why- but anyway, this park has plenty of it.

Twice we saw bighorn sheep- first it was a herd of females and then later we saw a bachelor group.  Turns out the two groups don’t hang out together unless its mating season.

After a few days exploring, it was time to head home.

Trona Pinnacles, Ridgecrest, CA (04-03-12)

Do yourself a favor.  If you ever plan on seeing the Trona Pinnacles and Valley of Fire, see the Pinnacles first.  It will keep the disappointment at bay.  

That’s not to say the Trona Pinnacles weren’t interesting, because they were, and we would have thought they were a lot more awesome if we hadn’t just come from Valley of Fire.

If you look at the pictures and think, “gee, that looks like another Star Trek set”, you’d be right.  Star Trek V filmed scenes here.  In fact, more than 30 films a year are shot here (including Planet of the Apes).

The Pinnacles were formed millions of years ago when carbonated briny lake water intermingled with calcium rich ground water, to form Calcium Carbonate.  Over a period of many years, these hollow tubes (Tufa Pinnacles) were formed.  Some of them are 40 feet wide and 140 feet tall.

We spent an hour or so wandering around checking it all out, before having lunch and getting the rest of our errands done.

Once we left Ridgecrest, we stopped in Bakersfield to wash the truck and trailer before heading into Fresno.

Since arriving here, we’ve been spending time with friends, catching up, and just in general having a fun time-  it’s especially fun  beating the guys at Rummikub!

Valley Of Fire State Park, NV (03-31-12)

      On the way to Valley of Fire, we stopped in Pahrump for two days.  It took that long to get the desert dust out of the trailer. It seems like a never ending chore sometimes.  We also had a ton of laundry to do, and I can pretty much say that after 9 days in Death Valley, we didn’t have any fresh produce left. That all seems so long ago, even though it’s only been a week.   The RV Park we stayed in had a winery attached to it, so we took the short tour and got a free wine tasting.  At least, I did.  Paul only tried one wine and didn’t care for that one.


the campground nestled among the red rocks.



  In addition to the history of the area, Valley of Fire is all about the hiking and the rock formations.  Hiking in a desert can be different, and has some unique challenges. Paying attention to water consumption is critical and we always turn back when half our water is gone. Also, many hikes actually have no official trail.

Much of the logical path to follow in a desert is on either hard packed desert soil, or soft dry riverbed .  One day we followed “Prospector’s Trail” but it ended up being an old road and we were more interested in hiking up and down the rock formations, so we quickly moved off in our own direction,  As we climbed up and down the boulders and hills, it was easy to lose depth perception and at times became difficult to figure out if we could continue the way we were going, or if we were going to come to a dead end and have to turn around. After a while, all the rock formations start to look the same.  Of course, we have a GPS with us (two, actually) so we wouldn’t get lost, but we could spend a lot more time getting someplace than we had planned on. 

 
That’s where Cairns come into play.  Cairns are  trail markers, many times unofficial and left by previous hikers.  Hikers will make a small pile of rocks indicating a turn in the path they took. Sometimes there will even be an arrow made of rocks, or a line of rocks blocking a pathway, indicating that we shouldn’t go that way. We came across quite a few rock cairns on our hike, which helped us make choices as to which way to go.

Easter Egg Canyon

Intermingled with all the red sandstone were some areas with a high mineral content that created beautiful colors.  I dubbed this particular area Easter Egg Canyon, because it literally looked like someone had taken the dye for Easter eggs and painted the rocks with it.



Lake Mead


Once we’d had enough hiking for a while, we took a day trip to nearby Lake Mead.  I have never seen Lake Mead before but of course I’d heard of it.  It was a beautiful warm day and we brought our swimsuits, just in case. It turns out that Lake Mead is a great boating lake, but there isn’t a lot of access to the lake without a boat. 





Our visit to this park was made more fun by the people we met. There were 3 Canadian couples traveling together that we became friendly with.  Each night we had social hour with them, and a campfire on the nights that didn’t have 40 mph winds.  Lately we’ve met some really great people- this group and the people we met in Death Valley are some of them.  Hopefully we’ll get a chance to meet up with them again at some point!


After extending our visit twice, we finally left the park today.  The weather, although dry, has been extremely windy at times and tomorrow the winds are supposed to be 40-60 mph so we started heading towards Fresno.  Our last day there we spent climbing the rocks that surround the campground. It was almost like being a kid again, climbing as high as we could up the rock formations and then finding a way down the other side. Great fun.

From one Valley to the next (03-28-12)

   Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada is one of those places that everyone says we need to go, so here we are.  If it looks “otherworldly”, it’s with good reason. 

This was the site of the planet Veridian III in Star Trek: Generations, and it happens to be the location where Captain Kirk takes his final breath.

The Wilson Cell phone antenna that we bought is doing it’s job, and is the only reason we have any internet and cell coverage.  The minute we move the phone 2 feet away from the antenna, our coverage is gone.  Except when we’re out on the trail, apparently.  We were out hiking yesterday, miles from anywhere, and the Paul’s phone actually rang! We had a nice chat with our daughter while we hung out on some beautiful red rocks.

This park is only about 60 miles from Las Vegas, but it’s a world away in atmosphere and attitude.  We drove through the city on the way here, but didn’t stop at all. 
I’ll post more once we’re not in the park, because as it is, I have no idea if this will post, with the pictures in it.